Northern CA Freshwater

Lake Almanor trout action Improves with onset of cooler weather

By BILL RICE/WON Staff WriterPublished: Nov 22, 2017

CANYON DAM — Lake Almanor continues to enjoy mild fall weather, with more rain than snow, said John Crotty, owner/guide of Quail Lodge, and fishing if improving with the onset of cooler weather.

“This past Wednesday, the lake received over 2 inches of rain and added another half-inch Thursday morning,” Crotty said. “On Thursday, the super ditch was just flowing. It won’t last long, but had a good flow for November and hopefully a good start to another wet winter. The forecast for Thanksgiving week is more mild, wet weather with lows in the 30’s and highs ranging from the low 50’s to a predicted high of 63 by mid-week, unseasonably warm, which could make for great fishing conditions.

“Boat traffic remains light with the majority of the fishing pressure taking place on the South end of the lake,” he said. “Bank and fly fishermen are targeting fish in the coves, catching fish on inflated ‘crawlers, Power Bait and a variety of fly patterns like midges, wiggle tails and woolly buggers. They are all producing fish.”

Water temp is hovering around 50 degrees, starting out in the high 40’s and reaching a high of 51.8 on Saturday. Roadways are all clear with no delays and while it will be wet this week they are not expecting any snow, said Crotty.

Stephanie Ringeisen from Oakdale braved 19-degree temperatures to catch a 3-pound rainbow, fast trolling hardware north of Rec. 2. Stephanie, her dad Ken and son Logan landed and released 25 rainbows and two salmon in two days of fishing.

“We sat out last week’s storms, but we did fish three days and caught fish fast trolling hardware in water between 12 and 30 feet deep, fishing between 5 and 20 feet deep. Like most other boats fast trolling on Almanor, red/gold was our top producer with red dot frog a close second,” said Crotty.

“Water, road and weather conditions all look good for the next week or so, but won’t last much longer, if you want to fish Almanor again, or for the first time in 2017, this might be you're last chance," concluded Crotty.